Concept

Papunhank

Summary

Papunhank was born in the early 18th-century. He was a Munsee man whose ancestors were notable sachems. He spent his entire life growing up in the area around the Susquehanna Valley, a region which increasingly became embroiled in violence between settlers and Indigenous nations, including Munsee, Conoy, Nanticoke, Mahican, and Lenape. While Papunhank eventually converted to Christianity, during his early life he had been regarded as a prophet in Munsee society. Up until the 1750s he reportedly struggled with an alcohol problem but following the death of his father, he isolated himself for five days in the woods and was struck by a spiritual vision which had a profound impact on his life. He became even further devoted to God, and renounced alcohol and became a pacifist. Papunhank came to use aspects of both Christianity and traditional Munsee spirituality, and was seen as a medicine man by many of his people. Scholars such as Earl Olmstead have argued that white settlement pressure caused Papunhank, alongside his family and other Munsee people to start a village named Machiwihilusing upon the Susquehanna river. Amongst the village which had a population of some 300 people, almost half became followers of Papunhank, and to European settlers they became known as “Quaker or religious Indians”, emphasizing the perceived gap between the two cultures. His syncretism of Munsee spirituality and Christianity was a source of conflict with some European missionaries, who sought a decreased emphasis on Indigenous traditional world views. Some of these Europeans went so far as to call him a heathen, criticizing his adaptation of Christianity as offensive. Papunhank invited some Moravian Christians to visit the village in the year 1756, where concerns were raised over the outbreak of the Seven Years War and general anxieties about the deterioration in Indigenous-settler relations were discussed. Papunhank’s skills as a negotiator and diplomat are worth noting, both for his impact within Indigenous society and in his interactions with colonial officials.

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papunhank

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